Roll mills



May 15, 1956 N. A. HELMER 2,745,335

ROLL MILLS Filed June 26, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I INVENT R.

M a. W

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N. A. HELMER May 15, 1956 ROLL MILLS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 26, 1952 INVENTOR.

RQLL MELLS Nicolas A. Heimer, Plainfield, N. 3., assignor to The Squier Corporation, Butfalo, N. Y.

Application June 25, 1952, Serial No. 295,733

3 Claims. (Cl. 199-165) This invention relates to improvements in bearing housings for mills of the type employed for pressing liquids from sugar cane and other materials, which have three rolls with their axes arranged in triangular relation to each other.

The bearing housings for mills of this type are generally provided with guideways for the bearings for the upper roll and pressure means, such as hydraulic devices, which urge the upper roll toward the lower rolls and generally in such mills the guideways are arranged substantially perpendicular to a plane passing through the axes of the lower rolls. One of the lower rolls generally called the feed roll is arranged to receive material to be pressed between it and the upper roll and after the material is pressed it is guided into the space between the other lower roll, commonly referred to as the discharge roll, and the upper roll for further expressing of liquid from the material. In mills of this type the pressure acting on the bearings for the upper roll is generally divided so that the upper roll bears with substantially equal pressure against the material passing between the two lower rolls.

In machines of this type, if the upper roll is moved away from the feed roll by the material entering between these two rolls, the upper roll will also move away from the discharge roll to the same extent, and consequently, the initially compressed material discharged into the space between the upper roll and the discharge roll will not be subjected to the required pressure to remove the maximum amount of liquid from the material. Constructions are also known in which the separating force between the upper roll and the discharge roll are normally greater than the separating force between the upper roll and the feed roll causing the resultant of the two forces to be inclined to the vertical and in such presses the pressure is exerted on the bearings of the upper roll in such a manner that the direction of this pressure is more toward the discharge roll than toward the feed roll in order to meet this resultant, and in such constructions, the situation is worse for the reason that the upper roll will move away from the discharge roll to a greater extent than the upper roll moves away from the feed roll.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide bearing housings with guideways which extend at such an angle to a plane in which the axes of the lower rolls lie, so that the direction of the pressure exerted on the bearings of the upper roll is more toward the feed roll than toward the discharge roll. Another object is to provide bearing housings of this type with guideways extending at such an acute angle to the plane in which the axes of the lower rolls lie and away from the vertical on the opposite side thereof from the resultant of the separating forces between the upper and the lower rollers so that when the upper roll moves away from the feed roll it will move away from the discharge roll to a lesser extent. Another object is to provide bearing housings with guideways arranged at an angle to a plane in which the axes of the lower rolls lie so that the pressure acting on the bearings of the upper roll will react with the guideways to States Fatent Patented May 15, 1956 force the upper roll toward the discharge roll by a wedge action.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description of one embodiment of the invention and the novel features will be particularly pointed out hereinafter in connection with the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a bearing housing embodying this invention.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the bearing housing and partly showing the rolls of the mill.

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view of portions of the rolls and illustrating the action of the upper roll on the two lower rolls, in a mill provided with bearing housings embodying my invention.

My improvements may be applied to roll mill bearing housings of any suitable or desired type, and in the particular construction illustrated by way of example, I have shown my improvements as used in connection with bearing housings of the general type shown in the Faber patent #1,810,102, which includes a lower housing part or hearing supporting member 5 on which the bearings 6 and 7 for the two lower rolls 8 and 9 are mounted, and an upper housing member or part 10 including a pair of downwardly extending legs 11 and 12 which are suitably secured at their lower ends to the lower housing member 5. The material to be pressed passes between an upper roll 13 and the lower roll or feed roll 9 and is then fed into the space or opening between the upper roll and the other lower roll 8 by means of the usual turnplate (not shown).

In the construction illustrated, the legs of each upper housing member or part 10 are secured to the lower housing member by means of a pair of cooperating wedges 14 which oppose upward movement of the upper housing member relatively to the lower housing member and additional wedges 15 are provided for preventing spreading of the legs 11 and 12 and holding them in engagement with the wedges 14. However, the lower ends of the legs may be secured to the lower housing member by means of bolts or the like or as shown in the Faber Patent 1,810,102.

The upper roll 13 is journalled in the upper housing member in bearings 16 which are yieldingly urged toward the lower roll bearings by any suitable means, such for example as a hydraulic cylinder 17 and a piston 18 cooperating therewith, and acting on the bearing 16. All of the parts thus far described, except for the particular mounting of the upper roll bearings on the upper housing member, have heretofore been usecl'on mills of this type, and may be of any other suitable construction. For the sake of clarity, I have not shown the rolls with the usual annular grooves and ridges customarily provided on the peripheries of the rolls.

The bearings for the upper roll are guided for movement to and from the bearings for the lower rolls by means of guideways 20 formed in the upper housing member it), and in accordance with my invention, these guideways 20 as well as the hydraulic mechanisms, each including the piston 18 and cylinder .17, are arranged at such an angle to a plane in which the axes of the lower rolls lie that the direction in which the hydraulic mechanisms exert pressure on the upper roll bearings 16 and the direction of movement of these bearings are more toward the bearing 7 of the feed roll than toward the bearing 6 of the discharge roll 8. Preferably the angle of the guideways 29 on each upper housing member is such that the direction of movement of the upper roll bearing 16 is substantially on a line connecting the axis of the upper roll and the lower feed roll 9, although good results can be obtained if the angle of these guideways with a vertical plane is considerably less than that shown in the drawing. By means of this construction, it will be obvious that the upper roll will move relatively to the discharge roll in a direction substantially tangential to the discharge roll. Consequently, if a large quantity of material enters the space between the upper roll and the feed roll the upper roll will be moved upwardly away from both of the lower rolls, but the movement of the upper roll from the discharge roll will be very much less than the movement of the upper roll away from the feed roll. This is a very desirable feature, since obviously the thickness of the material discharged from the space between the upper roll l3 and the feed roll 9 should be materially greater than the thickness of the mat of material discharged from the space between the upper roll 13 and the discharge roll 8. Consequently, because there will be less movement of the upper roll away from the discharge roll, it will be obvious that the material in passing between the discharge roll and the upper roll will be passed through a smaller space than in the case of prior constructions hereinbefore referred to, and'conscqucntly, this material will be subjected to'greater pressure so that more liquid will be expressed therefrom.

The following table shows approximately the distances or openings between the upper roll and the discharge roll corresponding to different distances or openings between the upper roll and the feed roll. In this table, column A indicates distances or openings between the upper roll and the feed roll see 27, Fig. 3 and table B shows the corresponding distances or openings between the upper roll and the discharge roll see 28, Fig. 3. Column C indicates the relationship expressed in per cent between the two corresponding openings opposite thereto in columns A and B. This table states the measurements when the guideways and the hydraulic mechanisms are, arranged at an angle of 35 degrees from the vertical centerline of the mill which is the angle, in the construction illustrated, which a line intersecting the axes of the upper roll and feed roll makes with the vertical center line of the mill.

inches inches inches /5 is 25 ii V32 28% 1 i 6 31 V1 1% 13 2 32% 1V; l 33 1; 1% %2 34 2 /1 s 34% 2% %2 34% 2% is 35 between the upper roll and the feed roll, In other words,

the construction illustrated maintains a substantially constant ratio between the respective roll openings and with but one set of two rams, so that there are delivered two intensities of loading per pair of roll openings, light loading on the feed roll and heavy loading on the discharge roll for final crushing. In mills in which the upper roll moves vertically, if the upper roll in its lowest position is similarly spaced as shown in the first line of the above table, any rise'of the upper roll relatively to the feed roll, results in a substantially equal rise of the upper roll from the discharge roll, and consequently, under many conditions very little liquid will be pressed out of the material between the upper roll and the discharge roll.

The relative positions of the rolls is illustrated diagrammatically in Fig. 3 in which peripheries of the lower 7 rolls 8 and 9 and the upper roll 13 are indicated by full line arcs when the upper roll is moved to the limit of its movement toward the lower rolls. The broken line arc 13a represents the position of the periphery of the upper roll after the same has been moved by the material passing between the upper roll and the feed roll, and it will be noted that the upper roll will then have moved to a materially greater extent from the feed roll 9 than from the discharge roll 8. In this diagrammatic view the two lines 25 represent the opening or spacing between the upper roll 13 and the feed roll 1* when the upper roll is in its lowest position and the two lines 26 represent the corresponding spacing of the upper roll relatively to the discharge roll 8. The two broken lines 27 show the spacing between the upper roll and the feed roll while a certain mass of material is passing between these rolls and the two brol-ten lines 28 represent the corresponding distance between the upper roll and the discharge roll, which distance is very materially less than the distance between the two lines 27. In the diagram shown in Fig. 3, it is assumed that the axis of the hydraulic mechanism and the guideways 2d are arranged at an angle of 35 degrees from the vertical so that the force exerted by the hydraulic mechanism will act in the direction of the line Sl) which passes through the axes of the upper roll and feed roll,

and 31 represents a vertical line passing through the axis of the hydraulic mechanism in the case of constructions heretofore commonly used.

it also will be noted that because of the relative arrangement of the bearings in the housing member, and consequent direction of movement of the upper roll relatively to the lower rolls, the upper roll 13 will be moved toward the discharge roll 8 by a wedging action of the 7 upper roll bearings relatively to one side of the guideways 20. As a result of this wedging action, the pressure with which the upper roll is forced toward the discharge roll will be materially greater than would be the case if the upper roll move vertically, or in substantially equal angular relation to both lower rolls.

Assuming that the force exerted along line 30, Fig.3,

by each of the hydraulic mechanisms amounts to 250' tons, and assuming the angular relationship shown in Fig. 3, the following results and useable forces may be computed. When the material enters the mill and the upper roll 13 is in its lowest position, a part of the 250 ton force at each bearing housing will be exerted along the lines 3% land 32. The line 32 will, by the construction assumed,

' bination of the resistance of thebearing guideways, acting perpendicular to line 30 at 33, and the remaining ton force available at 33. By means of the Vector diagram 34, it can be computed that'the remainder of the 250 ton' force, namely 130 tons, and the resistance of the bearing guideways, will, because of the angle of the line 32 with line 3i result in a force of 380 tons available to act along line 32 to resist separation between the discharge roll 8 and the pressure roll 13.

When the upper roll is moved upwardly by the material entering the space between the upper roll and the feed roll, and the point 33 is moved into position 35, then by means of the Vector diagram 36, it can be similarly calculated that the portion of the 250 ton pressure exerted along the line 30 will be divided into pressures of approxi matelyithe same intensity acting on the upper rollalong line 30 in a direction toward the feed roll, and also acting along the line 37 to urge the upper roll against the discharge roll 8. 'It will thus be seen that because of the angular relation to the vertical of the guideways for the upper roll materially greater forces urge the upper roll against the two lower rolls than is the case when the guideways extend parallel to the vertical line 31. The angular.

a material increase of pressure on the discharge area and of the liquid expressed from the material passing through the mill at the discharge roll as compared with prior construction.

While the relative movement of the upper roll toward the lower rolls at an angle of about 35 degrees from the vertical is very well adapted for use in connection with sugar cane and similar materials, it may be desirable, when acting on materials containing a smaller percentage of liquid than sugar cane or for other reasons, to arrange the guideways for the upper roll at a lesser angle to the vertical than illustrated in the drawings by way of example. This I can readily accomplish by arranging the guideways 20 and the hydraulic mechanisms in the two bearing housings at an angle less than 35 degrees from the vertical. With certain materials and under certain conditions, it may even be desirable to reduce the angle in Fig. 3 from 35 degrees to approximately 5 degrees.

It will be understood that various changes in the details, materials, and arrangements of parts which have been herein described and illustrated in order to explain the nature of the invention, may be made by those skilled in the art within the principle and scope of the invention, as expressed in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a mill having an upper roll cooperating with two lower rolls one of which constitutes a feed roll, and in which the material to be pressed passes first between said upper roll and said feed roll and then between said upper roll and the other lower roll, that improvement which includes bearing housings in which said rolls are journalled, bearings in said housings, the bearings for said lower rolls being arranged in fixed relation to each other, guideways in said bearing housings in which the bearings for said upper roll are arranged for movement toward and from said lower rolls, said guideways being inclined downwardly in a direction more toward the bearings for the other of said lower rolls than toward the bearings of said feed roll, and yielding means urging said bearings for said upper roll downwardly along said guideways, whereby movement of said upper roll toward and from said feed roll resulting from material passing into said mill is greater than the movement of said upper roll relatively to the other of said lower rolls.

2. A mill according to claim 1, in which each of the guideways is in a plane parallel to the plane passing through the axes of the upper roll and said feed roll.

3. In a mill having an upper roll cooperating with two lower rolls, one of said lower rolls constituting a feed roll and the other of said lower rolls constituting a discharge roll and in which the material to be pressed passes first between said upper roll and said feed roll and then between said upper roll and said discharge roll in such a manner as to exert separating forces between said upper roll and said lower rolls, the separating force between said upper roll and said discharge roll being normally greater than the separating force between said upper roll and said feed roll whereby the resultant of said forces is inclined to the vertical, that improvement which includes bearing housings in which said rolls are journalled, bearings in said housings, the bearings for said lower rolls being arranged in fixed relation to each other, guideways in said bearing housing in which the bearings for said upper roll are arranged for movement toward and from said lower rolls, said guideways being inclined downwardly away from the vertical on the opposite side thereof from said resultant and in a direction more toward the bearings for said discharge roll than toward the bearings of said feed roll and yielding means urging said bearings for said upper roll downwardly along said guideways, whereby movement of said upper roll toward and from said feed roll resulting from material passing into said mill is greater than the movement of said upper roll relative to said discharge roll.

References Citedin the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,106,301 Hedemann Aug. 4, 1914 1,109,932 Marshall Sept. 8, 1914 1,213,573 Armstrong Jan. 23, 1917 1,372,006 De Bruin Mar. 22, 1921 FOREIGN PATENTS 7,883 Great Britain 1884 19,908 Holland May 15, 1929 

